Tuesday, February 28, 2012

When I put this outfit together I was 100% convinced I had paired this dress and vest before, but on perusing my archives I see it isn't so. Here I thought I was being completely unimaginative and was only changing up the boots, and instead I had created a whole new outfit. Score!

I like the fact that this dress can be adjusted to different apparent lengths simply by scrunching up or pulling down the stretchy lining, since that opaque line is visible through the sheer layer. Here I wore it at hip length to create a longer leg line; I find that for me the upper hip tends to be a flattering spot for tops to sit. The hem of the lining can actually reach nearly to the bottom of the sheer upper layer (on the short side anyway), and if I were going to wear it that low I would probably pair it with a higher heel.

Friday, February 24, 2012

As the finale to Noir City week this year, the "Czar of Noir" Eddie Muller threw a speakeasy-style cocktail party called "Everyone Comes to Eddie's," which Mark and I attended at the Swedish American Hall. The event was fabulous, with great entertainment, tasty appetizers and cocktails, talented dancers, and an exceptionally good-looking crowd of people decked out in noir-style evening wear. My outfit for the evening consisted of my 40's reproduction dress, vintage-styled shoes, and a flower hair clip. The pearl necklace and the bracelet are actual vintage pieces. This is an event that I hope I don't have to wait another full year for; Eddie hinted that he might try to make this a regular occurrence, and I for one would be a regular attendee if he did.

For photos of the Noir City festival as well as the nightclub event, click here.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

I was very excited to get my hands on this Stacy Lomman t-shirt, because I knew just how I would wear it first --as part of a simple jeans-and-tee outfit dressed up with a blazer. Since the colors went so well with my McQueen skull scarf, I figured I'd really go all out and add some bright red nails and lips. I love how the blazer is cut deeply enough to show part of the logo, particularly the "biohazard" part, which is especially fitting given the line of work I'm in. It took a little doing to tie the scarf up high enough to show the t-shirt logo, but through trial and error I made it work.

Speaking of Stacy Lomman, I was so happy to see that she successfully achieved her Kickstarter goal and put on another great runway show. I just love the mod references in her new line; my favorites are the red cutout dress with the long feather vest, the skinny white pants/cropped jacket combo, and the sheath dress with the British flag cutout in the back -- so creative! Click here to check out the video.

Friday, February 17, 2012

I've been a lazy blogger this week (I do have an excuse; I've had a nasty cold), so the arrival of this wonderful video from this year's Edwardian Ball couldn't have been better timed. Feast your eyes on all the gorgeous San Franciscans decked out in their macabre finery.

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll resume my semi-regular blogging next week.

Friday, February 10, 2012

The Noir City film festival just seems to get better and better every year. There's a Noir City tradition of having the Thursday night be "Bad Girls" night, so of course that was the show we decided to get dressed up for. This year's Thursday night lineup featured our bad girl icon, Beverly Michaels (star of one of our Noir City all-time favorites, Wicked Woman), in Pickup. Laura, Fawn and I even made up a drinking game to accompany the double feature, the rules of which were:

Woman applies lipstick: one drink

Woman puts a hand on her hip: one drink

Someone lights up a cigarette: one drink

A slap followed by a kiss: two drinks

It was the cigarette scenes that really did us in. I frankly wonder how people found time for anything else besides smoking in the 40's and 50's.

Laura wore a dress she got from Modcloth, which just happened to look like it was made specifically to go with her adorable pair of pink and brown John Fluevog shoes. She topped it off with a vintage mink stole she found at an estate sale. Fawn went for a classic secretary look complete with pencil skirt and cardigan, pairing it with a vintage hat that I retrimmed myself. I wore my vintage 50's dress and a vintage fur-trimmed hat I found at Goodwill.

As for being bad girls, we did get a little tipsy, but we weren't even in the same league as Beverly Michaels. We've really got to work on that next year.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Well, I tried to wear this outfit, but I was foiled again by our unseasonably warm weather. No sooner had I taken the photos than I was starting to sweat, so the vest had to go. Sigh. Buying this vest seemed like such a great idea when I snagged it on sale last year. In New York. In February. After a snow storm. A California wardrobe staple this is not, but it makes for a good picture.

Monday, February 6, 2012

This sweater is probably at least 10 years old, and even though I don't wear it so much anymore, I still love it. Mostly I don't wear it because it's just scratchy enough to require an under layer, and it rarely gets cold enough here for that. In fact the day I wore this it wasn't quite cold enough, and I ended up carrying my jacket so as not to be too warm.

I wanted the shaping to be the main focus of this outfit, since both the sweater and the skirt really hug my curves. To that end I kept my jewelry simple and highlighted my hips by wearing the low slung belt. Hidden under the skirt were leggings for warmth, and my super comfy pair of Romika boots. Between those and the stretchy skirt it felt like I spent the day in my pj's.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Last week it got cold-ish for a couple of days, so I pulled my winter items out from storage. These leather pants haven't seen the light of day for quite some time, and frankly I'm starting to worry that this might be one of the only wears they get this winter. I thought they went beautifully with the blazer and boots.

I tried out some of the new shatter nail polish from OPI, and I quite like the effect. It was remarkably easy to do; you just apply it over any regular nail polish and within a few seconds it starts to crack. It doesn't even have to be applied evenly or very thick, because when the polish cracks it clumps together and becomes more opaque. Recently I read that gold nails are big for spring, and this is one trend I can certainly get on board with. It's not a huge investment, it looks good on everyone, and it's a great way to mix metals if most of your jewelry happens to be silver, as mine is.